Drought tests a changed Ethiopia

Ethiopia

by

Aaron Maasho and Edmund Blair

,

Reuters

Cooking pot are seen outside a temporary shelter in the drought stricken Somali region in Ethiopia, January 26, 2016. Photo: Tiska Negri, Reuters

Ethiopia's failed rains, which meteorologists blame on the El Nino weather phenomenon, have created a drought in some areas of the country worse than the 1984 crisis. Back then, water shortages and conflict combined to cause a famine that killed an estimated one million people. In the years since, Ethiopia has transformed under a government that promotes rapid economic development, although it is criticized for limiting many political freedoms. One of its signature schemes is a rural support program designed to keep Ethiopians from starvation. The new drought is putting that model to the test.